The Elephant and The Sparrow

wo sparrows, husband and wife, built a nest on a banyan tree where the female sparrow laid eggs. One afternoon a wild elephant came to the tree seeking shelter from the sun. Unable to bear the heat, the tusker suddenly went berserk and snapped a big branch of the tree, crushing the sparrow's eggs in the nest. The sparrow pair somehow escaped the fury of the elephant but the wife began crying for her eggs. A woodpecker, a close friend of the sparrow, heard her crying andmoved by her grief asked her, hy are you crying, my friend! ise men do not grieve what is lost or what is dead or what is past. That is the difference between a learned person and an unlettered man." The female sparrow said, The wicked elephant has destroyedmyoffspring. #f you are a true friend of mine suggest a way to kill him. #n my view, he whoharms a person in trouble or

he who ridicules a person in sorrow deserves to be punished and he who punishes such a person has no rebirth." hat you say is right," said the woodpecker. $e is a friend whocomes

to your aid when you are in need. %veryone tries to be friendly when you are prospering. &ou will see how resourceful # am. # have a friend who is a fly. ith his help we can kill the elephant."

Taking the female sparrow with him, the woodpecker called on the fly and told him, This is my dearest friend. A wild elephant has s'uashed her eggs. &ou must somehow find a way to kill that elephant. your help." The fly said, # have a friend who is a frog. (et us go to him and seek his help also." The female sparrow, the woodpecker and the fly went to the frog and narrated the entire story of the sparrow's grief. The frog said, hat is an elephant before a united crowd like us! )o as # tell you. O' fly, go to the elephant when the sun is high in the sky and hum a sweet tune into his ears. hen he closes his eyes in ecstasy, the woodpecker will scoop his eyes out. $e becomes blind and thirsty and will look for water. # will go to a 'uicksand and begin croaking there. Thinking that there is water, the elephant will come there and sink into the 'uicksand and die." All the four played out their roles according to the frog's plan and caused the death of the elephant." e need

At the end of the story, the female pheasant told her husband, That is how together the four friends killed the elephant." #mpressed by his wife's wisdom, the husband said, Okay, we will call our friends and with their help crush the *ea.' As their friends, the cranes, the peacocks, the cuckoos and other birds, gathered, the male pheasant told them the story of how the *ea had killed their offspring and how necessary it was to drain him out. At the end, he said, e cannot do this +ob. (et us go to

,aruda, (ord -ishnu's vehicle, and tell him all that has happened. $e will be angry over what the *ea has done to his species. $e will surely take revenge on the *ea." ailing and weeping, all the birds went to meet ,aruda and told him, O lord, we need your help. The *ea has destroyed the eggs of the pheasant pair. This is a blow to all the bird community. #f you do not intervene, he will destroy our entire tribe. ise men have always said that one wicked person will be an inspiration to all others with evil intentions." .oved by their story of grief, ,aruda thought to himself, These birds have a legitimate grievance. # will go and punish the *ea.' .eanwhile, an envoy from (ord -ishnu came and told ,aruda that the (ord had sent him as $e wanted to travel to Amaravathi on a divine mission. The envoy asked ,aruda to accompany him at once. ,aruda told the envoy, /o, # cannot come. # am not a useful servant. (et him take someone else. 0lease convey my regards to the (ord."

*urprised at ,aruda's words, the envoy said, O ,aruda, you have never uttered such words about the (ord. )id the (ord slight you in any manner! (et me know." *ee, this *ea, the (ord's habitat, has swallowed the eggs of the pheasant pair. #f the (ord does not punish the *ea for this, # shall not serve $im. This is my decision and you may convey this to the (ord," said ,aruda. #nformed of ,aruda's pi'ue, -ishnu told himself, ,aruda has reason to be annoyed with me. # shall go myself and receive him with respect. #f the king is satisfied he can give only money. 1ut when the master honours his servant, the servant is ready to sacrifice his life for the sake of the master. Therefore, it is wise that # should visit and appease him." hen -ishnu arrived to meet him, ,aruda felt guilty that he had said harsh words about the (ord and said, O (ord, the *ea who en+oys your protection has stolen the eggs of my servants and thus insulted me. 1ecause of respect for you, # delayed taking action against him." True, learned men say that a master is responsible for the misdeeds of his servants. *uch misdeeds hurt the master more than the servant. 2ome with me. # shall recover those eggs from the *ea and make the pheasant pair happy again. (ater we will go to Amaravathi," said (ord -ishnu. The (ord then took out his thunderbolt and aiming it at the *ea warned him, &ou wicked man, return the eggs to the bird pair. Otherwise, # will turn the sea into a desert." 3rightened, the *ea returned the eggs to the pheasants. The male bird handed them to his wife. 3rom this story," )amanaka told *an+eevaka, it is evident that he who challenges an enemy without knowing his strength perishes in the end."

True, but how do # know that 0ingalaka has evil designs against me! e have been very friendly. That makes it difficult for me think of killing him," said *an+eevaka. )amanaka said, $e stares at you in anger if he has evil thoughts in his mind. Otherwise, you may safely think he is the same old affectionate friend. 1ut if you decide to leave the place do it after sunset. Our elders have said that one must sacrifice an individual for the good of the community, give up caste for the good of the village and surrender a village for the good of the country. #t is desirable to save money so that one can spend it in a crisis, spend money to save his wife and give up both his wealth and wife to save himself." After he gave this advice to *an+eevaka, )amanaka went to see 4arataka. $ailing him, 4arataka said, hat happened to your mission!"

# have +ust finished sowing the seeds of discord among the two friends. The rest is in the hands of ,od," said )amanaka. (et me know how you did it." # have carried tales from one to the other and succeeded in dividing the friends. &ou will not see them again together." Oh, you have not done anything good. &ou have separated two good friends. &ou have made them hate each other. A wicked person knows only to harm but not mend." &ou do not know political science. $owever strong you are, unless you kill the enemy or the disease at the very outset, your enemy or the disease will kill you in the end. *an+eevaka stole the ministership from us and so he is our enemy. # won the king's assurance for him and brought him to the court of the king. Today, he has ousted us from our office. That is why # have plans to kill him. #f he wants to save himself, he should leave this place. even what they have won." ise men, like Chaturaka, do no hesitate to torment others to achieve their goal. 3ools like the lion cannot en+oy

On 4arataka's re'uest, )amanaka began telling that story.